A known binding has a sole holder with a first locking element, which sole holder is arranged movably on a support member, wherein the first locking element engages a first locking member which is constructed as a swingably supported cam. The support member is arranged on a base plate for movement in a direction which is approximately at a right angle with respect to the direction of movement of the sole holder. The sole holder also has a second locking element which engages a cam surface on a second locking member which is arranged on the ski, and the cam surface has in its center a recess with vertical surfaces, the distance between these surfaces corresponding approximately with the diameter of the second locking element, the depth of engagement of the locking element in the recess being equal to or greater than the radius of the locking element. This binding is disclosed in Austrian Pat. No. 305 843 (corresponds to U.S. Pat. No. 3,876,219).
Ski bindings which have been produced and sold according to this Austrian patent are very successful. They well meet the purpose of providing a controlled release of the ski boot in response to forces which act simultaneously in the horizontal and vertical directions, whereby for forces which only act in the horizontal direction a lock makes impossible the operation of the heel holder. A horizontal release occurs with the usual heel holders of safety ski bindings only at the front jaw. By determining the height of the vertical surfaces of the cam surface recess, it is possible to make the blocking recess longer or shorter. When the second locking element reaches the upper end of the side surfaces which define the recess, then the so-called controlled diagonal release is started.
The primary goal of the invention is an improvement of the binding which is disclosed in Austrian Pat. No. 305 843 by enlarging the effective height of the blocking recess without actually changing the dimensions of the locking element or the vertical surfaces which define the recess.